Who Really Makes Laptops and What is behind the name of a laptop? (The industries hidden secret)

You have all heard of National Brand laptop's on the market today; such as Alienware/Dell, HP, Toshiba, Compaq and Sony. It may be surprising but none of these companies actually manufacture their own laptop's. These National Brand companies purchase their laptops from an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) such as Clevo, Compal, Asus, MSI, Quanta, Wistron, Mitac, Arima and Inventec. The ODM's design & manufacture the machine and sell it to these National Brand companies as a barebones system. The National Brand companies then customize the system with a Processors, Hard Drives, Ram, DVD Drive, Wireless, Bluetooth along with other internal accessories, then install a Microsoft Operating System and label it and market it as their own. Most of these National Brand companies force you to purchase a Microsoft Operating System regardless if you have one already or not.

Over the last few years we have been seeing these National Brands forcing ODM's against each other in competition for their contracts. In result of this fierce competition we have seen the quality in these National Brands machines going down. As these National Brands strive for the lowest cost, their base or barebones machines are more stripped down then ever before. While we still buy our barebones shells from ODM's like Clevo, Compal, ASUS & MSI we don't buy the stripped down models. We buy the fully featured models with the latest technology including Quad Core or Extreme Processor Support, the latest video cards supporting SLi technology, high resolution HD screens and multi hard drive systems supporting Raid 0/1/5.  So when buying a Xotic PC laptop you are buying cutting edge technology combined with non proprietary components, more flexible customizations and followed by unmatched personalized U.S based. 24/7 Support. (Not to mention we don't force you to purchase a Microsoft Operating System, as you see these National Brands force consumers to do.)

At Xotic PC we understand how crucial support is after the sale. We have all heard stories in result to these National Brands outsourcing tech support outside of the U.S. When contacting these National Brands for Support you often have to go through many automated menu's to reach a live person. When you call into Xotic PC support you will be immediately connected to a live agent to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Maybe this is why you see Xotic PC has a Lifetime Customer Service rating of 9.9 out of 10 while National Brands like DELL, Toshiba, HP, Gateway and Sony all have scores of less then 5.5 out of 10.

Below you will find a list of the more popular ODM's that Xotic PC sells:

Clevo, makes some of the highest performance machines on the market today. Clevo was established in 1983 and is based in Taipei, Taiwan. There are many companies on the market today that pick up the Clevo line due to their unique feature set and the outstanding performance per dollar you get from their machines. Some accomplishments Clevo has achieved are:
2003 - Worlds 1st 17" WXGA Notebook
2004 - Worlds 1st Intel® Dual Core Notebook
2005 - Words 1st AMD® X2 Dual Core Notebook
2006 - Worlds 1st 19" Notebook with SLi Technolgoy
2007 - Words 1st Intel® Quad Core Notebook with SLi Technology

While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by Companies such as Alienware/Dell, Falcon Northwest, Hypersonic and VooDoo PC (HP). (although you will see much higher pricing with these companies for the same machine Xotic PC sells). Clevo currently has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany & China. View our Clevo Models here.

Compal, is the worlds 2nd largest laptop maker in the world that has built laptops for all of the major brands as well as custom builders for over 22 years. Compal is known for making notebooks for a variety of clients around the world including Dell, Toshiba, HP and Compaq. For the year 2007 Compal shipments totaled 22.6 million units.  The companies headquarters is in Taipei, Taiwan and has locations in China, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States. Xotic PC's Force Series consists of many Compal models. View our Compal Models here.

ASUS was founded in 1989 and is the one of the few that makes their own laptops.. Asus is known worldwide for their motherboards, video cards and many other PC & Electronic components. Asus is known for producing items for other corporations such as Sony, Apple, Alienware, HP and Compaq. The companies headquarters are in Taiwan and have offices in China, United States, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Czech Replublic, Poland, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam . Asus makes two separate notebook lines called the "Ensemble" and the "Built on Asus".

    * The "Ensemble" laptops are pre-configured and assembled by Asus. Asus selects a processor, hard drive, ram and other components and markets them as a complete system with Windows installed from the factory. Normally with these Ensembles the Processor, Hard Drive and Ram can not be customized prior to order. Xotic PC brings these models into our facility and will customize the unit according to the customers needs. View our ASUS Models here.
    * The "Built on Asus" laptops are barebones system provided by Asus to companies for customization. Asus manufactures these models without CPU, Ram, Hard Drive etc. and provides the barebones unit to Xotic PC to customize according to the customers needs. View our ASUS "Force Series" Models here.

MSI, similar to Asus, makes their own laptops. MSI is known worldwide for their video cards, motherboards and other Computer components. Micro-Star International Corporation, Ltd. is one of the IT industry's leading manufacturers of computer hardware products and solutions, including world's top five and Taiwan's top three motherboard manufacturer, Taiwan biggest and world's top five server manufacturer, and has been the leading graphic card manufacturer for the past four years. View our MSI Models here.

As you can see the "National Brand" companies are not as most consumers are made to believe. Although most of these ODM's are never recognized by the consumer; they end up with major brand names on them that most are familiar with.

Some call this the "hidden secret" of the laptop industry that we wanted to share with you.